Niles' last direct link to the "Day of Infamy" has died.
Bill Wenger, so young when he joined the Navy that he had to wait three weeks for this 17th birthday to enlist, died early Tuesday at his home. He was 86.
A seaman second class on the USS Hull, he was still 17 when Zeros began bombing the docked U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 7, 1941. Like many U.S. sailors, Wenger was having breakfast aboard his ship and believed initially the explosions stemmed from a drill.
Then reality struck, with a jolt perhaps as shocking as the attack. At a breakfast meeting of Berrien County's three remaining Pearl Harbor survivors last December, Wenger was asked if he was scared.
"There wasn't time to be scared," he said.
He recalled that after the first wave of the assault, he was put on a whale boat to pick up crew members at nearby Mary's Point. Then the second wave of Zeros arrived.
"It's a strange thing, when someone's shooting at you," Wenger said as he reminisced with fellow survivors Robert Flaherty and John DeFields. "I could see the planes and the bombs coming out of them. No matter where you are, it looks like they're coming directly at you."
Shortly after the whale boat returned to the Hull, the ship was strafed. Wenger said he and other crew members jumped over the side and sought cover behind posts on the dock.
Pearl Harbor was seared into his memory, as was the Battle of Okinawa. At the latter, Wenger was among a half dozen sailors blown overboard when a kamikaze plane was shot down just short of the USS Anthony and the engine from the plane crashed into the destroyer.
"I was certain the sharks were going to eat me alive or that I was going to drown," Wenger said. "We were in the water six or seven hours until a little landing craft picked us up."
Wenger later returned to Pearl Harbor for reunions, including one in 2006 that marked the 65th anniversary of the attack. After accepting a personal apology from a Japanese pilot who had flown one of the Zeros, Wenger and his family visited the memorial above the final resting place of the USS Arizona.
He said afterward it didn't matter that he didn't know Niles' Fred Amon, who's among the sailors still entombed on the battleship. He didn't see the ship as it was destroyed either.
"I didn't see the Arizona get hit but I heard it," he said.
His passing leaves DeFields and Flaherty as the only known Pearl Harbor survivors in the county. DeFields, 88, of Coloma, said he saw Wenger last week and realized he was dying of congestive heart failure.
His guess now, he said, is that Wenger is catching up with shipmates.
"Knowing Bill, he's swapping stories," he said.
Services set for 11 a.m. Friday at St. Mary's Catholic Church will precede burial with full military honors at Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m.. Thursday at the Halbritter Funeral Home.
(This story was by Lou Mumford of the South Bend Tribune. Lou interviewed dad around the anniversary of PH for many years. He enjoyed sitting with the "Guys" and hearing the war stories. It was a fitting story and even more fitting having Lou write the story for dad and the Wenger family. Thank you Lou for being Dads voice even at the end).
Bill Wenger, so young when he joined the Navy that he had to wait three weeks for this 17th birthday to enlist, died early Tuesday at his home. He was 86.
A seaman second class on the USS Hull, he was still 17 when Zeros began bombing the docked U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 7, 1941. Like many U.S. sailors, Wenger was having breakfast aboard his ship and believed initially the explosions stemmed from a drill.
Then reality struck, with a jolt perhaps as shocking as the attack. At a breakfast meeting of Berrien County's three remaining Pearl Harbor survivors last December, Wenger was asked if he was scared.
"There wasn't time to be scared," he said.
He recalled that after the first wave of the assault, he was put on a whale boat to pick up crew members at nearby Mary's Point. Then the second wave of Zeros arrived.
"It's a strange thing, when someone's shooting at you," Wenger said as he reminisced with fellow survivors Robert Flaherty and John DeFields. "I could see the planes and the bombs coming out of them. No matter where you are, it looks like they're coming directly at you."
Shortly after the whale boat returned to the Hull, the ship was strafed. Wenger said he and other crew members jumped over the side and sought cover behind posts on the dock.
Pearl Harbor was seared into his memory, as was the Battle of Okinawa. At the latter, Wenger was among a half dozen sailors blown overboard when a kamikaze plane was shot down just short of the USS Anthony and the engine from the plane crashed into the destroyer.
"I was certain the sharks were going to eat me alive or that I was going to drown," Wenger said. "We were in the water six or seven hours until a little landing craft picked us up."
Wenger later returned to Pearl Harbor for reunions, including one in 2006 that marked the 65th anniversary of the attack. After accepting a personal apology from a Japanese pilot who had flown one of the Zeros, Wenger and his family visited the memorial above the final resting place of the USS Arizona.
He said afterward it didn't matter that he didn't know Niles' Fred Amon, who's among the sailors still entombed on the battleship. He didn't see the ship as it was destroyed either.
"I didn't see the Arizona get hit but I heard it," he said.
His passing leaves DeFields and Flaherty as the only known Pearl Harbor survivors in the county. DeFields, 88, of Coloma, said he saw Wenger last week and realized he was dying of congestive heart failure.
His guess now, he said, is that Wenger is catching up with shipmates.
"Knowing Bill, he's swapping stories," he said.
Services set for 11 a.m. Friday at St. Mary's Catholic Church will precede burial with full military honors at Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m.. Thursday at the Halbritter Funeral Home.
(This story was by Lou Mumford of the South Bend Tribune. Lou interviewed dad around the anniversary of PH for many years. He enjoyed sitting with the "Guys" and hearing the war stories. It was a fitting story and even more fitting having Lou write the story for dad and the Wenger family. Thank you Lou for being Dads voice even at the end).
Niles' last direct link to the "Day of Infamy" has died.
Bill Wenger, so young when he joined the Navy that he had to wait three weeks for this 17th birthday to enlist, died early Tuesday at his home. He was 86.
A seaman second class on the USS Hull, he was still 17 when Zeros began bombing the docked U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 7, 1941. Like many U.S. sailors, Wenger was having breakfast aboard his ship and believed initially the explosions stemmed from a drill.
Then reality struck, with a jolt perhaps as shocking as the attack. At a breakfast meeting of Berrien County's three remaining Pearl Harbor survivors last December, Wenger was asked if he was scared.
"There wasn't time to be scared," he said.
He recalled that after the first wave of the assault, he was put on a whale boat to pick up crew members at nearby Mary's Point. Then the second wave of Zeros arrived.
"It's a strange thing, when someone's shooting at you," Wenger said as he reminisced with fellow survivors Robert Flaherty and John DeFields. "I could see the planes and the bombs coming out of them. No matter where you are, it looks like they're coming directly at you."
Shortly after the whale boat returned to the Hull, the ship was strafed. Wenger said he and other crew members jumped over the side and sought cover behind posts on the dock.
Pearl Harbor was seared into his memory, as was the Battle of Okinawa. At the latter, Wenger was among a half dozen sailors blown overboard when a kamikaze plane was shot down just short of the USS Anthony and the engine from the plane crashed into the destroyer.
"I was certain the sharks were going to eat me alive or that I was going to drown," Wenger said. "We were in the water six or seven hours until a little landing craft picked us up."
Wenger later returned to Pearl Harbor for reunions, including one in 2006 that marked the 65th anniversary of the attack. After accepting a personal apology from a Japanese pilot who had flown one of the Zeros, Wenger and his family visited the memorial above the final resting place of the USS Arizona.
He said afterward it didn't matter that he didn't know Niles' Fred Amon, who's among the sailors still entombed on the battleship. He didn't see the ship as it was destroyed either.
"I didn't see the Arizona get hit but I heard it," he said.
His passing leaves DeFields and Flaherty as the only known Pearl Harbor survivors in the county. DeFields, 88, of Coloma, said he saw Wenger last week and realized he was dying of congestive heart failure.
His guess now, he said, is that Wenger is catching up with shipmates.
"Knowing Bill, he's swapping stories," he said.
Services set for 11 a.m. Friday at St. Mary's Catholic Church will precede burial with full military honors at Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m.. Thursday at the Halbritter Funeral Home.
(This story was by Lou Mumford of the South Bend Tribune. Lou interviewed dad around the anniversary of PH for many years. He enjoyed sitting with the "Guys" and hearing the war stories. It was a fitting story and even more fitting having Lou write the story for dad and the Wenger family. Thank you Lou for being Dads voice even at the end).
Bill Wenger, so young when he joined the Navy that he had to wait three weeks for this 17th birthday to enlist, died early Tuesday at his home. He was 86.
A seaman second class on the USS Hull, he was still 17 when Zeros began bombing the docked U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 7, 1941. Like many U.S. sailors, Wenger was having breakfast aboard his ship and believed initially the explosions stemmed from a drill.
Then reality struck, with a jolt perhaps as shocking as the attack. At a breakfast meeting of Berrien County's three remaining Pearl Harbor survivors last December, Wenger was asked if he was scared.
"There wasn't time to be scared," he said.
He recalled that after the first wave of the assault, he was put on a whale boat to pick up crew members at nearby Mary's Point. Then the second wave of Zeros arrived.
"It's a strange thing, when someone's shooting at you," Wenger said as he reminisced with fellow survivors Robert Flaherty and John DeFields. "I could see the planes and the bombs coming out of them. No matter where you are, it looks like they're coming directly at you."
Shortly after the whale boat returned to the Hull, the ship was strafed. Wenger said he and other crew members jumped over the side and sought cover behind posts on the dock.
Pearl Harbor was seared into his memory, as was the Battle of Okinawa. At the latter, Wenger was among a half dozen sailors blown overboard when a kamikaze plane was shot down just short of the USS Anthony and the engine from the plane crashed into the destroyer.
"I was certain the sharks were going to eat me alive or that I was going to drown," Wenger said. "We were in the water six or seven hours until a little landing craft picked us up."
Wenger later returned to Pearl Harbor for reunions, including one in 2006 that marked the 65th anniversary of the attack. After accepting a personal apology from a Japanese pilot who had flown one of the Zeros, Wenger and his family visited the memorial above the final resting place of the USS Arizona.
He said afterward it didn't matter that he didn't know Niles' Fred Amon, who's among the sailors still entombed on the battleship. He didn't see the ship as it was destroyed either.
"I didn't see the Arizona get hit but I heard it," he said.
His passing leaves DeFields and Flaherty as the only known Pearl Harbor survivors in the county. DeFields, 88, of Coloma, said he saw Wenger last week and realized he was dying of congestive heart failure.
His guess now, he said, is that Wenger is catching up with shipmates.
"Knowing Bill, he's swapping stories," he said.
Services set for 11 a.m. Friday at St. Mary's Catholic Church will precede burial with full military honors at Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m.. Thursday at the Halbritter Funeral Home.
(This story was by Lou Mumford of the South Bend Tribune. Lou interviewed dad around the anniversary of PH for many years. He enjoyed sitting with the "Guys" and hearing the war stories. It was a fitting story and even more fitting having Lou write the story for dad and the Wenger family. Thank you Lou for being Dads voice even at the end).
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